UAE, Egypt, Lebanon top summer favourites

Like seagulls, people actually flee the Arab Gulf for the summer. But in a reversal of situations, the United Arab Emirates on the eastern edge of the peninsula is showing all signs of becoming a boomtown with tourists and visitors flocking in from all over the region and other parts of the globe.

The relatively young nation joins the likes of popular traditional destinations such as Egypt and Lebanon as top favourites for summer tourists this year, according to travel market experts.

Globally, the summer tourist traffic flow has been affected by terrorist alerts in the West and the recent SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in the East. The Middle East, Africa and Latin America remain relatively unaffected by these two major global concerns.

The travel trade estimates that while Egypt would be the travel centre in North Africa and Lebanon in the Levant, the UAE will be the top destination this summer in the Gulf and South Asia. This summer, the Emirates is also likely to benefit from the activity that was postponed prior to and for the duration of the Iraq War.

As Egypt and Lebanon are expected to also draw international tourist flows, especially from Europe, market watchers point out that the UAE is also likely to attract tourists from other parts of the world owing to the growing global awareness about its landmarks like the Burj Al Arab and its booming hospitality sector - especially in the international travel trade.

The UAE is among the youngest entrant into the global travel trade on the back of a build-up of tourism infrastructure by places such as Dubai.

Officials estimate that the UAE is ready to see an increase of between 10-15 per cent this year in tourist inflows. The country's hospitality sector has been growing rapidly and several new hotels have come up like the Grand Hyatt. Dubai's preparations for the World Bank-IMF Governors meeting in September have had the effect of providing sizeable infrastructure to accommodate projected increases in tourist flows.

The Dubai International Airport hopes to surpass its passenger projections by a million this year to 18 million. It did 16 million in 2002 and had initially hoped to process 17 million people in 2003.

The airport's 30 million passengers traffic projections do not count the significant number of families that arrive by road from neighbouring countries and the rising number of tourists brought in by global cruise operators.

The UAE's tourist catchment area has rapidly been spreading outwards. Previously, tourism was almost unknown with the vast majority of visitors being traders and workers from the Indian Subcontinent and the rest of the Gulf and Iran. But as the 3 per cent drop in transit passengers in 2002 indicates, Dubai is now more of a destination than a mere transit stop.

The UAE is ready to reap the summer harvest and Dubai is in the vanguard, gearing up to meet the rush. As usual, the government-private sector partnership is working overtime to make arrangements for the smooth flow of visitors and to keep them entertained during their stay with a two and a half-month bonanza of themed events under the Dubai Summer Surprises banner which ends on August 29.